“Every generation thinks they invented sex.”
Gravity exists. Truth matters. So what makes your voice tech startup different?
To borrow loosely on what renowned professor Peter Drucker once said, “the purpose of a [voice tech] company is, has been, and always will be to create a customer. Therefore the only thing a [voice tech] company should focus on is innovation and marketing.”
What makes voice tech investing different are the same things that make it exactly the same as any other tech startup investment – just with opacity cranked up to level 10. Startups have to solve problems that matter and find customers willing to pay.
So what’s a voice tech startup to do? Instead of rehashing startup 101s that an infinitesimal number of places on the web already do a good job of pontificating on, let’s talk about voice tech specifically.
Investors like VoicePunch have to sort through a bottomless supply of companies competing for funding. Here are a few of the questions we like to ask voice tech companies to help us separate the wheat from the chaff.
Ask yourself:
- But for voice, would your startup exist?
Many startups in voice tech create solutions that leverage voice as an extension of what they are on other platforms. See above – “not every generation invented sex, but the Internet made created novel new pathways to the home.” - Can your voice tech startup be successful if it takes a lot longer than you planned for consumers/corporation to really embrace your product? How committed are you and your team?
- Disrupting terra firma? How does your voice solution disrupt the status quo, and whose lunch are you going to eat when you are successful?
- Does the team you have or the team you are building have the vision, motivation, and perseverance needed for success?
- Solution – If your product or service is in the market, has it received positive customer feedback?
If you feel like you have a pretty good handle on how you would answer these questions for your startup, please reach out. We are excited to meet you!
